Faneuil Hall hosts street theater festival

Faneuil Hall Marketplace kicked off its inaugural street theater festival on Saturday, Oct. 20. The two-day event ends Sunday. While the cobblestone alleys may see street performers plying their trade regularly, this was the first time a formal event was held. Performers from Boston and beyond wowed audiences, some who came specifically for a show, many who just stumbled into the crowd.
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Sean Smyth / Boston.com correspondent

Perhaps the most popular performer of the day was Al Millar, 34, of Boston, whose stage name is Alakazam. Millar, a native of Sydney, moved to Boston in 2010 and, like the other participants, is a full-time street performer. Street performers rely on audience donations for their compensation.
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Sean Smyth / Boston.com correspondent

"It's the only thing I've done since I was 17 years old," said Millar, who travels across the country, and world, to juggle knives, balls and a chainsaw, among other things. Some people get the wrong idea of street performers, Millar said. "We're not bums, not breakdancers."
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Sean Smyth / Boston.com correspondent

Millar stood atop a pole, which played a key role in his act, during a mid-afternoon performance. He enjoyed the event. "Some of the street theater festivals I've been to all over the world are the best moments of my career," he said.
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Sean Smyth / Boston.com correspondent

Eight performers took to two areas on the Fanueil Hall property to show off their acts. Another was The Jim Show. Jim, 42, of Somerville—he only goes by one name—has been a street performer for 20 years.
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Sean Smyth / Boston.com correspondent

In addition to juggling balls and bowling pins, Jim also has mastered the art of balancing himself on an unsecured board, which in turn is held up by a metal cylinder.
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Sean Smyth / Boston.com correspondent

Jim, shown here doing his balancing act, does street and private performances. Street performances make up about 20 percent of his schedule now, Jim said, but he still enjoys them. "It's [about] the magic of entertaining people who didn't think they'd be entertained," he said.
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Sean Smyth / Boston.com correspondent

Jim, shown here balancing himself while juggling bowling pins, keeps his routine simple, compared to other performers. "It's not knives or chainsaws, but it's more than you can do," he quipped.
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Sean Smyth / Boston.com correspondent

Street performers have to get in as much work as they can when the weather is good, Jim said, noting New England street performers generally have a seven-month season. "You have to work really hard when it's good," he said.
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Sean Smyth / Boston.com correspondent

Jim, pleased with the reaction of his audience, cracked a smile toward the end of his show.
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Sean Smyth / Boston.com correspondent

Cambridge-based Daniel Forlano was another of the street performers taking part. He had a couple tricks up his sleeve, including a successful attempt to drop a ball, from about 10 feet up on a ladder, into a water-filled cup on the ground.
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Dave Cox, above left, of Albany, N.Y., claims to be the inventor of "The Toilet Paper Tightrope of Death." Here, an audience member prepared the "tight rope," fashioned out of a roll of toilet tissue.
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Sean Smyth / Boston.com correspondent

With volunteers holding up the rope, Cox made sure the "rope" was strong enough for his liking.
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Sean Smyth / Boston.com correspondent

Cox, 37, has been a street performer for 10 years. He also acts. The idea for his bit "just came to me; I thought of it driving down the road." He's refined the task over the past 15 years, adding in some knife juggling along the way.
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Sean Smyth / Boston.com correspondent

Street theater festivals like the one here are common elsewhere in the world, Cox said. "Most people [in the US] see us as beggars," he said.
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Sean Smyth / Boston.com correspondent

Performer "Kilted Colin" is 25-year-old Colin Campbell, a Marshfield native. His main calling card: Performing bagpipes while riding a unicycle. "I thought bagpipes and unicycling went together like bread and butter," he said.
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